276 RECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. 



is half of the original specimen, since it bears evidence of having 

 been longitudinally bisected. The habitat is stated to be Eastern 

 Australia, from the data in the register. Western Australia is 

 probably the habitat of this species. 



If any justification were needed for the views expressed in the 

 present or preceding papers, the examination of the species 

 included in this contribution fully vindicates the writer's position, 

 and proves the urgent necessity for a complete revision of the 

 Lendenfeldian species, not only the species described as new in 

 the " Catalogue of Sponges," but also those described in the 

 Zoologische Jahrbucher in 1887. 



This chaotic condition of a collection of types is very unsatis- 

 factory, and in many cases there is no hope of reducing the species 

 to order without the aid of additional specimens. It is a pregnant 

 fact that Prof. Arthur Dendy's donation contains authentic 

 representatives of types described in the " Catalogue of Sponges," 

 but not found in the Museum collection, the names of which 

 cover some other sponge. Prof. Dendy's presentation consists 

 of specimens received from the British Museum, and it is there- 

 fore possible that the types of others wrongly represented in the 

 collection may also be there. The material examined and described 

 in the following pages includes the species enumerated in the 

 Catalogue of Sponges, from pages 78 to 91. 



The following list contains thirty-two species and varieties 

 represented by fifty-two specimens, twenty-two of which are 

 from the British Museum collection ; out of the fifty-two 

 specimens, fourteen agree with the descriptions, fifteen are 

 wrongly named, and the remainder are at variance with the 

 diagnosis, either in the dimensions or the kind of spicule present. 

 In some cases the discrepancies are great, in others small, but in 

 any instance the inaccuracy is suflicient to lead the investigator 

 astray, and thus prevent a satisfactory identification of the species 

 by means of the description. Many of the forms included in the 

 list remain unafiected as species. For instance, Antherochalina 

 perforata is represented by three examples, two of which bear 

 labels in the author's handwriting ; the third is from the British 

 Museum, and was probably named by the author of the species. 

 Only one out of the three agrees with the figure, and this example 

 possesses stylote spicules, whereas the type is said to have oxea. 

 There still remains a doubt as to what particular sponge was 

 described under the above name. Considering the confusion at 

 present existing in the nomenclature of Australian sponges, I 

 decided to avoid altering any names except those afiecting the 

 generic position of the species ; in these cases their proper place 

 is indicated in the text. The manuscript and specimen numbers 

 of all the examples in the Lendenfeldian collection are given under 

 each species. 



